Rat guards



1960 G. A. REUBENSTINE 2,959,147

RAT GUARDS Filed Oct. 6, 1959 INVENTOR. GEORGE A. REUBENSTINE FIGB ATTORNEV RAT GUARDS George A. Reubenstine, 162 Adelphi St., Brooklyn, N.Y.

Filed Oct. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 844,659 I i Claims. (or. 114-221 Thepresent invention relates to an improved rat guard and more particularlyto the type which is apphed to ships hawsers, cables and lines.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel andimproved rat guard which is easily and etfec-.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a.

novel and improved rat guard of the character described, which isreasonable in cost, easy to manipulate, convenient for storage when notin use and eflicient in carrying out the purpose for which it isdesigned.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosureproceeds.

For one practice of this invention, its embodiment may be described ascomprising a disc in upright plane provided with a downwardly openingradial notch through which the hawser lies. Sector-shaped doorspositioned against one face of the disc, are swingably mounted thereon;each in normal rest position covering substantially a lower quarter ofsaid disc and closing said notch, leaving only a hole through which thehawser is posi-' tioned fitted therein. On the upper part of said disc,there is an uprightly positioned, elongated bolt provided at its lowerend with a point formation adapted to enter into and engage the hawser.Each door is linked to said bolt so that upon raising the bolt, saiddoors will be automatically swung upwardly and open the notch. From suchposition, upon release of the bolt, the doors will swing downwardly dueto their response to gravity and draw the bolt downwardly. Said bolt atits upper end carries a swingably mounted handle rod which can be swungupward to substantially horizontal position for manipulation from shipside and is used to further push the bolt downward or to lift the bolt.Upon upward movement of the bolt, the doors are automatically, opened torelease the guard for removal. The fall of the doors, automaticallybrings the bolt into engagement with the hawser. The disc and its doorsmay be of sheet metal properly weighted if necessary. The doors whenclosed, are preferably in overlapping relation.

1 will now give a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of thisinvention, for which I will refer to the accompanying drawing which ispart of this specification. In this drawing, similar characters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a rat guard embodying the teachings of thisinvention. Here the doors are open.

Fig. 2 is a side or end view of Fig. 1, showing it set on a hawser.Here, the guard is shown complete with the mentioned swingable handlerod, which is omitted in Fig. 1 to attain clarity of illustration.

ire States -half circle concentric with the disc perimeter.

i Z,959,i47 Patented Nov. 8, 1960 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section takenat line 4-4 in V Fig. 3..

Fig. 5, drawn to a reduced scale, is a front view of another embodimentwhere only one door is employed. This view only shows the disc and itssingle door in closed position thereon. The moved position of said dooris also indicated. 7

Fig. 6, also drawn to a reduced scale, is a fragmentary front view ofanother modification.

In the drawing, the rat guard indicatedgenerally by the numeral 15 inFig. 1, comprises a plate or disc 16, provided along its verticaldiameter with an elongated hawser-engagement bolt 17 which is slidablyengaged in the channel track 18 along the upper part of said diameter,while said disc, in its lower part along said diameter, is provided witha parallel-sided, downwardly-opening notch 19, whose upper closed edge19 is a concave This notch is for holding the hawser 20 therethrough.The numerals 21, 22 indicate flat sector-shaped doors which areswingably mounted to said disc at 23 and 24 respectively and preferablylie against one surface of such disc.

At normal rest position, said doors overlap each other and cover thenotch 19, except for the hole formed by end 17 which imbeds itself intothe hawser body. Such normal rest condition ofpsaid components isillustrated in Fig. 3. Since it is required that upon raising the bolt17,'that the doors 21, 22 shall swing upwardly to their position shownin Fig. 1, said doors are linked to the bolt by either the flexiblecables 23, 24 or the rigid links 23', 24 respectively. Stops 25,26 aresecured on the disc 16, to limit the upward movement of the doors 21,22. 'At the top of the bolt 17, a handle rod 27 is swingably linked, andhas attached thereto the rope 28, whose free end is accessible aboardship so that the handle rod 27 can be raised for manipulation fromaboard ship. In normal rest position, said handle rod hangs downward.

The rat guardis applied onto the hawser 20, from aboard ship. Holdinghandle 27 in hand, the fiat clear surface 16' of the disc plate 16 facesthe land and the disc assumes vertical position. The weight of the disccauses it to fall until the doors 21, 22 are halted by the stops 25, 26respectively. The notch 19 is now clear, so the rat guard is moved toreceive the hawser 20 therein. The above described condition is shown inFig. 1. Now, handle 27 is moved downward after the disc has come to reston the hawser. The weight of the doors will cause them to swing downwardto closed position, pulling the bolt 17 downward into engagement withthe hawser 20. The handle 27 is then moved to further push the boltsengagement point 17 deeper into the hawser; the handle 'being directlyconnected to said bolt 17. The rat guard is now mounted as shown in Fig.3. The handle 27 is let to fall, but the rope 28 attached thereto issecured aboard ship so that the handle 27 can be lifted for manipulationto release the rat guard for removal, when desired. It is suggested thatthe meeting edges of the doors shall be in overlapped relation as at 29when in closed position.

As a modified embodiment, as shown in part in Fig. 5, all of Fig. 1shall be deemed included, except that only one door 30 is employed inplace of the twin doors 21, 22, and hence elements 23 and 25 are alsoomitted. Here in Fig. 5, the single door 30 is of sufiicient dimensionto cover and retracts to position 30 to be in open position. 1

headed axisv element.33,which.is pinnedtosaid; bolt at 34. The track 18'is;provided withaslanted slot;31, in which slidably, fitsthe pin 35;the.. latter.extendinglaterally from said bolt 30. The length of thisslot isvs ueh' that upon downward 1 movement of the. bolt 30, such boltwould be givena part turn, to-drill itself. into; the.

hawser 20. This feature can beused in thediiferent embodimentsshown inthe drawing.

The rat guards shown may be hung up .when not inuse, for whichpurpose-the hole 31 isprovided imthe disc 16. The disc and doors may beof sheetmetahiplate.

or other suitable materials.

This invention is capableof numerous forms and various applicationswithout departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It istherefore intended and desired that the embodiments shown herein shallbe deemed merely illustrative and not restrictive and that the patentshallcover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had.to the following claims rather than to the specific description hereinto indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a rat guard of the character described, a main plate member havingan elongated notch to receive a hawser therethrough to lie against theclosed end of said notch, a hawser-engaging bolt sl-idably mounted onsaid main plate member, normally in position to engage the hawser, doorstructure swingably mounted on the main plate member, normally inposition to substantially cover all of said notch which is unoccupied bythe hawser and means linking said bolt and door structure whereby onmovement of said bolt away from the hawserposition through said notch,the door structure will be automatically swung to a position to uncoverthe notch.

2. A rat guardas defined'in claim 1, wherein the door structure is aplate against the main plate member and wherein the means linking saiddoor plate to the bolt is an elongated pliable member which is securedat its respective ends to said bolt and door plate.

3. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the door structure is aplate against the main plate member and wherein the means linking saiddoor plate to the bolt is a rigid link pivotally attachedyat itsrespective ends to said bolt and door plate.

4. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the door structurecomprises two plates positioned against the main plate member, one toeach side of the notch respectively and wherein the linking meanscomprises two elongated pliable members secured at one of theirrespective ends to the bolt and at their other ends to said door platesrespectively;

5. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the door structurecomprises two plates positioned against the main plate member, one toeach side of the notch respectively and wherein thelinking meanscomprises two links secured atom of their respective ends to the bolt inpivotal relation therewith and pivotally secured at their other ends tosaid door plates respectively.

6. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the door structurecomprises two plates positioned against the main plate member; the edgeportion of one of the door plates which is over the notch in the normalcondition of theratguard, being elf-set from the planeof the door plateitis-on, whereby in said normal condition,

said door plates overlap across the notch in the main .1

plate member.

7. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the bolt 7 bolt will beautomatically given a rotary movement; the

position andlength of said slot being such that such rotary. movement ofthe bolt occurs when the bolt is sliding and is in the space occupied bythe hawser through the notch in the main plate member.

8. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, including an elongatedrigid handlemember pivotally connected to the bolt.

9. A ratguard as defined in claim 1, wherein the bolt, the doorstructure and the linking means therefor are at one surface of the mainplate member.

10. A rat guard as defined in claim 1, wherein the axis of swing of'thedoor structure is perpendicular to the mainv plate, member.

No references cited.

